Corporate Social Responsibility

The February survey covered the drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility, the importance of distinct activities in a CSR programme, and how effective respondents believed that their firm had been at implementing its CSR programme.

Four drivers of CSR - changes in the environment, supporting the priorities of the business, meeting the changing needs of clients, and harnessing the aspirations of the firm's people - are all seen as extremely important. Marketers view client needs as most important followed by business priorities. However, managing partners give most importance to people aspirations.

The three most important activities in a CSR programme are seen to be charities and sponsorship, diversity and workplace culture, and learning and development.The next group is community and education, policies and codes of behaviour and environmental management. Pro bono is important but last on the list.

When it comes to effectiveness, the element that is seen as most effective is 'doing the right thing'. Coherency of programme and collaboration score higher than consistency of programme or presenting credentials consistently. The weakest area is seen as a lack of rigour in both the programme and in checking progress.